


If Only

by orphan_account



Category: HEARTBEAT (Video Game)
Genre: Action, F/F, Fluff, Light-Hearted, Romance, Stargazing, Third Wheels, come on rex is totally a third wheel here, kind of on a nervous eve's request but still, only a lil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-06
Updated: 2019-02-06
Packaged: 2019-10-23 14:56:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17685632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: A request coming from the HMS Tenebro brings fellow Conjurers Eve and Patch closer together - even if only for one quiet, ethereal night...





	1. No Worries, Sis

**Author's Note:**

> This was a lil Patcheve-inspired drabble for the HEARTBEAT Discord Secret Santa, for ophi! I know this could have been a LOT better,  
> but I got...kinda lazy and unsure of myself when writing this, I’m SO bad at fluff I’m sorry...so I just kinda watched a bunch of Gilmore Girls for inspiration for the first half of this ehe. I had fun at least!

"Yo, your tone's sounding a little thin here...You sure people are gonna hear the melody if it's like this, dude? All I can hear are those drums..."

 

"Heh, maybe you're right. Or maybe I gotta tell Luca to tone it down a bit on those crashes."

 

A mature blue room, the walls outlined with furniture; the lights on the hi-fi system in the corner idly flickered green every few seconds, awaiting the command of the desktop computer to its left. Faint sunshine radiated through the window above the desktop, casting white streaked reflection across every gloss-coated surface in the room.

 

"Oh! Maybe...maybe do something about that little jagged bit on the wave thingy?"

 

In front of the computer were two Conjurers and a Mogwai; one sat in a chair in front of the computer, another stood behind this chair with her chin resting on it, and the third sat on the bed only a bedside desk away from the computer, idly kicking her legs, watching with interest.

 

"Nah, those aren't the drums - sorry, Eve. It's okay, though - that part does need fixing...or maybe it can actually be part of the whole thing, y'know?" Patch said, leaning to the side and turning her head upwards to face Eve, "Maybe make it part of my new sound..."

"Yeah, dude!" Rex chimed in, continuing to kick her legs and slowly sway slightly from side to side, "That'd be rad...writin' mature lyrics...while stayin' true to your roots as well...right, Eve?"

"Hehe, yeah...you said you were going in a mature direction, r-right, Patch?"

"Aw, c'mon, Eve, you know I am! You're, like, my greatest fan!"

 

Patch couldn't see Eve's expression above her head, but Eve reflexively beamed and looked over to Rex, who flashed Eve a grin, her swaying carefree as ever.

"Hey, Eve, I gotta wonder," Patch continued, "What's your musical education history?"

"I...actually qui-quit after leaving school...I only knew piano. Sorry, Patch!"

"Hey, don't be sorry!" Patch replied, turning to smile at Eve, "I said I wanted you here to check out my new album, right? And you're here, so I'm happy! And plus, you did say Rex knew a thing or two about music, so we're gonna have a real good product here, y'know?"

 

Eve and Patch glanced over to Rex, who had little to offer but a smile. "I know about LISTENING to music, deffo...I might not know all about those funky waveforms, or how to make music, but for evaluating it? I'm your girl, brah!"

"I gotta wonder..." Eve said, following Rex's lead, "How do you _see_ what you're doing anyway, Patch? I can't see your eyes, so… "

 

Eve leaned down, slowly moved her hand over and parted Patch's bangs and-

_"Oh my god." Eve thought. "I just ran my hand through her hair. Without thinking."_

She saw Patch's left eye looking back at her coolly; hazel.  
_Patch has hazel eyes._

Rex stared at Eve out of Patch’s view, her eyes and mouth wide open in wordless shock, and Eve prayed for an easy way out of her situation.

 

A ringing noise cut the thread of the moment; Eve's phone.

 

"Ugh, I can't believe I forgot to put this on silent mode...sorry, Patch," Eve said, snapping her hand back to take her phone out of her jacket pocket, "You'd think I'd remember to turn on silent mode given how much Klein hates the sound of my message alert, and my phone's been ringing nonstop ever since I became Ambassador..."

"Eve, you gotta stop apologising! It's all fine! Really! All that matters is that you're here!"

"Who's it from, sis?" Rex asked as she sat up and shuffled forward on the bed, her idle swaying ceasing.

Eve took a moment to read.

 

"It's...from Tate?"

"Yo, isn't that...the Bakunawa you mentioned?" Patch asked.

Eve gasped. "Oh my god...I'm not sure I was supposed to mention this, but..."

A glance between Rex and Patch - a glance of surprise, of curiosity.

"She wants me to come over to the HMS Tenebro...wants help in pacifying the Astortoids she's cloning...so she can study them. Seems kinda rough..."

Patch's mouth idly opened as Rex looked on with anticipation.

 

"Cloning?" Patch gasped and turned her entire body to face Eve and Rex, pushing her keyboard away from her.

"Dude, I thought I was being out there with the whole aliens business...but cloning? And what's an Astortoid?"

 

At a loss for words, Eve looked to Rex for an explanation, who gave Patch an expression almost as helpless as Eve. Lost, Patch looked back to Eve for an explanation.

"Can we _please_ stop givin' each other these looks?" Rex interjected. "This is gettin' super confusing, dudettes..."

"I guess, but I'm not sure how much time we have...Tate gets impatient, y'know?" Eve replied.

Rex leapt to her feet. "Why don't we explain it on the way then, brah? You come too, Patch! They got some outta this world tunes where we're going, and it'd be cool if you heard 'em!"

"Sure, I guess. Sounds rad. Wanna start getting ready, Eve? We'll get coffee on the way."

"Uh, sure! Do you have any mirrors around here...?"

"Don't use the bathr-" Patch said, as Rex produced a hand mirror, "Right here!"

"Thanks, Rex."

"No worries, sis!" Rex said, covertly winking at Eve, her tongue ever so slightly sticking out.

  


 


	2. The Winds of Otecho

Patch and Eve's scarves gently fluttered in the cool winds of Otecho's late winter as they passed through the door to the apartment building.

 

"So, we're headed to The Sand Bar, right?"

Eve caught up to Patch and walked by her side, moving a stray strand of hair out of her own eyes. "Y-yeah!"

"Cool, cool. Then we'll...take the teleporters...? Man, I never knew stuff like that existed! I gotta give The Sand Bar more credit..."

"It's exciting, right?" Eve replied, exhaling visibly and looking to Patch, "I didn't know myself until a short while ago, heh...it'd be nice to show – uhm - it would be nice to show you round after I'm done!"

"Why don't I watch?" Patch said, smiling directly back at Eve. "Not often I get to see a Combat Conjurer in action, least not since you took out those Kunekune. That was pretty cool."

"Aw, it wasn't just me! Klein, Shep and Luca were there too as well..."

 

"Got the coffee! Taro milk tea for Eve, right?"

"Yep!" Eve projected over her shoulder.

Rex matched pace with Eve, holding three cups each covered with a coffee lid, and handed Eve the white cup, transferring another cup into her free hand. "Black coffee for Patch?"

"Thanks, dude!"

Rex reached behind Eve to hand Patch a dark brown cup. "Anytime! That whole royal business ain't my scene, but I got all the money I need, so don't worry about payin' me back. I also won't judge you for drinkin' that stuff without bubbles, Eve. Seriously, the bubbles are the best part! What's so great about it now?"

Eve sipped her tea sheepishly.

"I think it's okay..."

 

A consolation smile from Rex to Eve.

"I'm a simple volt element gal, I guess. Latte Macchiato's the only coffee for me, y'hear?" Rex said, sipping her own coffee, her other hand in her pocket.

Patch sipped her coffee in turn. "As long as it's not one of Luca's weird inventions, I'm fine. She once made me drink what I thought was yerba mate...turns out she'd made me chug hot straight vodka she'd modified to taste like yerba mate."

Rex and Eve grimaced, refraining from taking another sip of their coffee - at least until the moment passed.

 

"So anyway," Patch continued, dividing her attention between Rex and Eve, "What's going on with the whole cloning business?"

"Eve, you wanna take this one?" Rex said to Eve. "I spent all that time tearin' it up in the lounge so I had barely any idea what was goin' down."

Eve look a five-second sip of her coffee as they turned onto Otecho Path, leaving the last image of the city behind them.

"Okay...I know this."

 

Breathe in.

 

"Okay, so...Y'know how there was a war between humans and Mogs around 200 years ago?"

Patch looked at Eve inquisitively.

"Nah...Sorry, Eve. Luca don’t tell me much."

"How th-or how there's a spaceship in Solum's orbit right now?"

"No..."

Eve looked to the ground for answers, racking her brains for a starting point. Her descent into thought was interrupted by the sound of a text alert, though she didn't feel her own phone vibrating in her pocket.

"Patch, is that your phone?"

"Nah, I keep mine on silent nowadays. Shep's been a real handful lately, askin' for advice with Ann and all."

Patch and Eve looked over to Rex, already reading from her phone's screen.

"June again?"

"Nah, it's Troz! She's at The Sand Bar already. I don't need a bodyguard anymore, but she's still my friend, and June gave me this phone for a reason, y'know? She gets real sick up there on the Tenebro, so I'm gonna rush over to prep her. Eve, could you bin this next bin you find?"

Rex handed Eve her half-empty coffee and holstered her phone swiftly. "Catch you guys later!"  
"See you soon, Rex!"

"Later!"

 

With a half-second of limbering up, Rex breathed in and dashed down Otecho Path, leaping gaps and ledges with the fluidity of a trained athlete, her image rapidly getting smaller in sight as she drew closer to The Sand Bar.

"That's impressive! She sure can run, huh?"

"She is a volt Mog after all!"

Eve raised the yellow cup to her nose and took a pensive sniff, unsure of what to expect. It smelt rich. "It's...milkier than I thought?"

"You never tried Latte Macchiato?" Patch asked, her pace slowing as Eve followed suit. "Thought someone like you would know all about coffee?"

 

Eve laughed nervously, lowering Rex's coffee and taking a sip of her own. "Kind of? I've had a few of them, but...just not this one in particular. Klein never was a fan of Latte Macchiato or Peppermint Tea and got kinda weird about me drinking them, so I never had a chance to try them, haha...Klein just isn't a coffee drinker and she always did her best to make sure I didn't drink too much. But f-anyway! The HMS Tenebro! You promise not to tell anyone else, Patch? Please? Except Shep and Luca. They already know."

"Promise, Eve." Patch replied as she looked directly at Eve and smiled, taking her other hand out of her pocket and putting it to her cup of coffee. "Cool, cool. I'm excited to hear this!"

 

"Okay, so like, 200 years ago Solum was dying, and some humans in some spaceships tried to terraform it and put some new life on it. Mogs and stuff, right?"

"Wait, isn't that a good thing?"

"But!" Eve exclaimed, "They also tried to take over a buncha planets and experimented on Mogs! A lot! Including Ark and Avi and a bunch of others...they didn't care about the Mogs at all."

"Whoa...space conquest...so those totally were aliens in the next apartment?"

"Uh...well, not th-not that one. Cache is totally human, haha. But the rest of the galaxy isn't doing too well, y'know?"

 

Patch pensively nodded and sipped her coffee, formulating a response worthy enough for the sudden shift in subject. Intrigued, Eve leaned forward and looked over to Patch, where her hazel eyes would be were they not covered by a wall of hair falling down from out of her beanie hat.

 

She continued staring for a second or two; Patch raised her arm to sip her coffee briefly before putting it back down.

"Patch? Are-are you alright?"

Patch corrected her resting gaze and relaxed her muscles, nodding again. "Yeah, I'm alright, Eve, don't worry! I was just thinkin'...none of the Mogs I've seen are that old anyway...that got anything to do with this? If what you're tellin' me is true then Solum's even weirder than I thought..."

"It does, actually! So, there's this one planet the humans visited..."


	3. The Battle of Tank 5

Refracted light from the various aquariums throughout the room danced around faintly on every clinically white-lit surface of the marine lab as the echoes of chattering Pengineers reverberated, adding to the background noise coming from the four medium-sized fish tanks in the room and the expansive fifth tank beyond the west wall.

An Ikaroa, a Cetus and a Bakunawa, all three in human form, stood in front of the glass of the fifth tank at the southern wall, watching, idly conversing as they watched events unfold, faint lilac light patterns shimmering across their bodies.

 

"Either of you ever wonder why we didn't just try leaving the whole thing to Ark?" The Bakunawa asked, her gaze remaining fixed inside the tank.

"Penguin cloning accidents, that's why. Ark was busy with that...thing, heh." The Ikaroa asked, her eyes briefly glancing towards Tate, a glance that went unnoticed.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Laugh it up, Avi. She didn't ask to fight an Astortoid last time, remember?" Tate replied with a flat tone, shooting back a glance that most definitely was noticed.

Avi replied with another look of her own - a more bemused expression, though this too went unheeded as Tate resumed staring into the tank, one hand on her hip.

Tate looked up to the Cetus. "Hey, your wife's trying to fight several of them at once. She normally this bold? I'm getting kinda worried here..."

"You and Eve took one no problem, right? Plus, it's all...for...science." Avi said, grinning at Tate encouragingly.

"Yeah, I know, I know...but three? No, wait. Four? ...Nile?"

 

Nile didn't speak, instead opting to slowly turn to smile at Tate and Avi before turning back to the glass between herself and Ark. Tate shrugged at Avi in response, who calmly kept her hands in her pockets with an encouraging smile as the both of them returned to watching the happenings inside the tank.

"It's cool, I guess. Eve always somehow manages to get things done. Not sure how Ark's gonna deal with it, but that's...cool. When's Eve gonna show up, by the way, Nile?"

"She should be arriving within the next minute," Nile coolly declared over her shoulder as she walked away from the tank, "Don't worry about Ark. She'll be fine."

 

Nile turned away from the tank and sauntered towards the entrance to the marine lab, heading to intercept a pair walking around the corner mid-conversation; Eve, and the girl with the beanie hat.

"There you are, Eve. I presume this is your...friend?"

Eve and Patch glanced at each other briefly.

"Hey, you're...Miss Nile, right?" Patch asked, standing straight, "It's...nice to meet you."

"Patch...Godunov, correct?"

"I never gave her your second name...does she know about Blinking4Soup?" Eve whispered to Patch.

Nile continued speaking, unfazed by Eve's comment. "I'm glad you're here, Patch. Eve's task is fairly dangerous, so she'll need a lot of support."

 

"If you don't mind me asking..." Eve murmured as she looked up to Nile, "What exactly will I be doing? Please tell me I don't have to fight another Astortoid..."

"You'll be fighting more than one!" Avi shouted from the other side of the room.

"Avi." Tate snapped, jabbing her elbow into Avi's side.

Nile glanced backwards at Avi and Tate with a look that told them both to stop. "She's right, dear. You will be fighting...well, pacifying several of them." She said, turning back to Eve.

Avi turned away from the tank and headed over, hands in her pockets as always; Tate followed suit, turning away from the carnage in the tank to face Eve and Patch. Avi took her hands out of her pockets as she approached and noticed Patch by Eve's side, her catlike eyes slyly inspecting the newcomer. "Yeah, but it's no biggie. I'll be going in with you, and Ark's in the tank right now, so everything's gonna turn out a-OK. Exciting, right? Fighting several Astortoids?"

Avi looked to Patch quizzically. "Do you have any Mogs that might be help? I mean...you're a Conjurer, right?"  
"Sorry, dude." Patch responded with a shrug. "My two Mogs are flora element and poison element. I'm no Combat Conjurer, either."

 

Tate nodded slowly, going through the list of Eve's Mog friends that visited the ship last time, silently trying to remember which one of them, if any, was suited to water combat.

"Aw, but stay a while, won't you? It'd be cool for Eve to have some company round the ship. We'll be in this lab if you need us though." Tate remarked, beaming at Patch. "Anyway, that's all for now. Don't worry about Ark. She'll be fine. Love the hairstyle, by the way."

Tate reached over and ruffled Patch's hair lightly before turning back round and ambling towards the glass of the fifth tank yet again, focus back on Ark's Isonade form spiralling through the water.

 

Nile cleared her throat gently, inadvertently bringing Avi to attention. "You'll be starting in a bit, Eve - I'm sure there's plenty for you to do on this ship too, Patch."

"Is...Eve gonna be okay in there?" Patch asked. "Those...purple tortoise things..."

"Astortoids." Eve whispered, watching Patch nervously, praying Patch wouldn't say anything rude - as if Patch would say anything rude anyway, but years of living with Klein had made her wary.

"...Astortoids..." Patch continued, "look mad strong, and there's a lot of them in that tank...is there anything I can do to help?"

Nile broke composure and she opened her mouth in surprise, drawing the intrigued, expectant gaze of Avi yet again.

 

"Well...hmm. Unless you brought deep sea diving equipment, you won't be able to go in, and you don't seem like a combat Conjurer...that's fine anyway, since we only have one diving suit."

 

Nile cleared her throat again and pushed up her glasses.

"But, you could at least be there for Eve after she gets in the tank. Rex, Troz, Klein and Luca should be around here somewhere should you wish to fetch them. Until then, that's all. Why don't you use your time to relax before we get started? Fetch anyone you might want to, perhaps?"

"Nah, I'm fine. Luca said she didn't want to be disturbed in the lab," Patch replied, looking to Eve, "Where are Rex and Troz?"

"Well...Rex said she might come. Troz was feeling more seasick than ever...seasick? Spacesick? Anyway, Rex said if Troz doesn't feel better she won't make it..."

"No?" Nile mused. "Suit yourself, I suppose. We've only got one diving suit, mind-“

"Oh no..." Eve interrupted, "Please don't tell me-"

"Yes, dear, it's the same suit. It's the same principle, is it not?"

Eve groaned uneasily.

"I'm sure Tate will explain anything you need answered if you need."

 

A rustling noise approached from around the corner as a pink Pengineer dragged a clean white space suit across the floor towards Eve, Nile, Avi and Patch. Nile crouched slightly to receive it, and held it in front of Eve.

It was the space suit.

Eve gazed at it and remembered the discomfort she felt the last time she'd worn it - at Gamanomen's Belt, fighting only one Astortoid.

"If it helps, I tailored it a little with Nile." Avi advised. "Only a little, though...I mean, you can't really do too much tailoring on a suit like that, heh. Hope it's a little comfier though."

"Hey, Eve," Patch said, placing her hand on Eve's shoulder, "You're gonna do great out there, you hear?"

Eve looked down and adjusted her bangs to at least partially hide the involuntary smile that burst forth. "Th-thanks, Patch. I'll do my best!"

 

Nile put her hand on Eve's other shoulder and guided her towards the exit as Avi put hers on Patch's shoulder, guiding her towards the glass of the Astortoid tank, engaging her in light conversation.

"What happens if we can't handle it?" Eve mused as she turned the corner with Nile, leaving the slightly saline air of the marine lab. "Didn't you consult your crystal ball?"

"Tate tells me she's already planned for that, so don't worry, dear."

 

"Yo!"

 

Rex and Troz approached, though Troz was leaning against Rex as the both of them took slow steps.

"Is Troz okay?" Eve asked.

"She's still feelin' kinda gnarly right now, but she really wanted to watch you, so I figured there was no stoppin' her, heh."

Troz let out a weak "wuff..." in agreement, nodding her head slowly.

"Do your best, Eve!" she added.

Eve smiled and giggled slightly. "Thanks, Troz."

 

Rex leaned to the side, searching for someone behind Eve. "Hey, where's Klein?"

"Well...things are kinda weird between her and Patch...I'm not so sure they like each other, and I didn't want any confrontation." Eve said sheepishly, taking her eyes off Rex. "I'm nervous enough around Patch, heh...I kinda panicked when she said she wanted to hang out and called you over. I hope that's okay..."

“No worries, brah! I know how it is.” Rex replied, beaming at Eve.

 

Rex cleared her throat and brushed back her hair lightly with her hands.

"Hold up, before I go...Miss Nile, could you give Troz your shoulder real quick?"

Bemused, Nile took Troz from Rex, and Rex jumped a few times in anticipation, suddenly placing her hands on Eve's shoulder as a current passed through Rex' arms and through Eve's body. Eve's resulting jolt was suppressed by Rex keeping her firmly on the floor.

Eve stood still, gauging her own body for changes.

 

"I feel...lighter? Faster, even?" Eve mused.

"Yeah, sis! That's a jump-start! Hope it helps ya!"

Rex took Troz back from Nile, and continued her path.

"Good luck in there, Eve!"

Troz echoed Rex with a faint bark as Nile and Eve waved and continued on their path.

 

Past the crates, down the new corridor and around another corner; Eve and Nile entered a small room, only half of which was composed of a solid surface, the other half of which was deep purple water. It cast a dim hue on the walls, and only the sloshing of the water was audible over the ship's engines.

"This is it." Nile said. "You won't be able to talk to Ark and Avi, but you should work well enough given that they're both Yin Mogs, and that Avi is a light Mog. Tate will be helping out over comms if you need any help, and Avi will be with you shortly. Come back in one piece, won't you?"

"I-I will!" Eve said, taking off her hair ties and awkwardly donning her suit.

 

Eve stepped into the tank and...she felt nothing, as if there were no surface boundary at all; as if there was no water.

She submerged herself fully as she climbed down the ladder, and though her view became hazy lilac, she felt no water resistance, no drift, nothing.

Minus the sound of the lilac liquid surrounding her, It felt like being back at Gamanomen's Belt again.

 

Eve stepped off the ladder, and started floating freely, experimentally swimming forward - again, like being in space. She felt unbound.

Her vision adjusted, and in the distance, she saw a dark blue form running rings around two large beings she assumed to be Astortoids, occasionally slamming into their sides.

 

A claw tapped on Eve's helmet from beyond her peripheral vision, and another dark form swam ahead and turned to face her briefly - white underbelly, and bright orange eyes.

Avi's Mog form - an Ikaroa.

Avi waved at Eve before turning back around and cutting through the water to join Ark, her body glowing an increasingly bright white.

 

Eve heard a click coming from somewhere, and she heard the atmospheric background of the Marine Lab.

"Hey, Eve!" Tate exclaimed through the comms. "Ark's our main offense right now, and Avi will be focusing on confusing the heck outta those Astortoids, so maybe try helping them with the offense a little, you hear? We need at least three, but more would be nice, you know?"

"Got it!" Eve replied.

She moved ahead, holding her staff ahead of her, and moved much more quickly than expected; on par with Avi's speed.

 

"How's that agility power-up, sis?" Rex remarked over the comms. "You got this!"

Eve pressed forward at surprising speed and reached the epicentre of the action; Ark swam rings around two Astortoids, whirlpools forming in her path as both turned in a desperate yet futile attempt to keep up, each of their unblinking yellow eyes cutting through the lilac haze, and Avi was engaged with a third, flashing as she shot periodic bursts of light-based attacks at it. The third Astortoid was sluggish, and didn't seem to be doing much in the face of Avi's onslaught.

 

Eve kicked forward, and with a twirl of her staff, she charged herself with the wind from Kon's core piece and launched herself at the third Astortoid, hitting it square on the top of the eyelid. To her surprise, it recoiled slightly and moved back a meter or so.

"Nice, Eve!" Tate chimed in through the comms. "Follow through and you should be fine."

Avi circled the Astortoid and gave Eve a thumbs up as Ark and two of the other Astortoids passed over Eve.

Eve saw her chance, and twirled her body with her staff this time, charging up again to launch two whirlpools of her own at both Astortoids. They partially hit, throwing them off and changing their course slightly as Avi followed up with a direct claw swipe to the nearest two fins she could find.

She turned briefly to see faint outlines on a grey surface ahead of her through the glass; five humanoid figures. Tate and Nile, Patch, and two sitting down on the floor close together - likely Rex and Troz.

 

This scene was short-lived as it was interrupted by Ark shooting across her view, followed by an Astortoid barrelling into her and knocking her back several metres. Eve looked to her right and saw two coming at her, dead ahead, each of their single eyes trained on her.

 

"Watch out!" Tate's voice yelled over comms.

In the corner of her eye, she saw Ark glance at her for only a moment before charging at the lead Astortoid at full speed, knocking it directly off course.

The second remained; Eve stood her ground and charged up her attacks with what she hoped was wind element. She aimed her staff, but was interrupted by Avi carrying her off to safety as the second careened past her previous location.

 

Eve attacked, and another whirlpool came forth from her staff, as well as several shockwaves, two of which hit the two Astortoids that attacked her. She looked behind her to see Ark engaged with...two more of them, to make a grand total of four.

She took this moment to activate her microphone, looking back at the glass. The one in the middle, likely Patch, waved - Eve waved back.

"Tate, there are four of them now! What do I do?"

"Worst comes to worst, you can use your core release, right? I dunno how in sync you're feeling right now, but...well, you could always try that fancy spinny move you did last time if you're not sure what to do."

 

Eve looked back, and was almost blinded by a light-element attack exchange between a rapidly moving Avi and two Astortoids. She averted her gaze quickly, and felt a hand on her shoulder - Ark.

Ark guided Eve's sight just below Avi, and covered her gaze slightly to protect her eyes from the lightshow happening just above it - an Astortoid with multiple cuts on its fins. Beyond Ark, Eve could see...roughly five, six? Astortoids.

 

She nodded, grasping Ark's basic meaning as she moved with renewed energy towards the marked target, nearly twice as fast as before.

Another click - Tate again; "This is it, Eve! Don't mess it up, you hear? Just dive right in and release your core element. That should do, right?"

 

A wake formed behind Ark as she spiralled towards one of the Astortoids engaged with Avi's swift, untraceable form, and Eve moved ever closer to the centre.

She reached a point she deemed necessary, and began; from her heart, she felt a raging wind, and her body temperature raised slightly as she focused. Despite the energy she was expending, she felt...almost light. The water around her twisted and turned in unpredictable directions, and a flurry of bubbles came from her staff.

 

Avi and Ark backed off slightly as pockets of air formed around Eve in strange places. Two unfortunate Astortoids were drawn into the maelstrom, only to be finished off with a spin of Eve's staff.

 

Eve felt the last of the borrowed power of Kon leave her body, looking around to see two stationary Astortoids beside her, blinking slowly. Eve swam slowly towards them and put them into her pocket, making a note to enlist everyone's help to carry the now pocket-sized creatures out.

Only two remaining.

 

Eve looked back to the window to see a smiling Avi, and Ark holding a pocket-sized Astortoid. Rex and Troz were standing now, even if Troz was still leaning into Rex slightly.

One remaining.  
One?

No Astortoids nearby…

 

Strange. Oh, well. Maybe it fled…

 

Another click; this time, Patch.

"Yo, great job, Eve! That was amazing! My watch says it's getting’ late right now, but do you wanna hang out somewhere after this?"  
"Sure, Patch...say, could you all come over to the entrance to the tank? Sorry if I'm imposing, but I could sure use some help carrying those things outta here...”


	4. Cosmos

The lights of the lounge had been off for half an hour, its overhead speakers having been silenced for the last 3 hours and its Pengineer presence had disappeared even before that; the only sources of light that remained were the faint projections of starlight through the windows, and the power-saving mode white glow of Patch's laptop on the sofa at the furthest end of the room, casting a faint reflection behind Eve and Patch.

All that could be heard were the the low hum of the ship's engines and the voices of Eve and Patch - to a lesser degree, occasional clicking, and faint music coming from their shared earphones, acoustic-edged mellow punk rock only audible to two. By now, Eve had her shoes off, and her legs were tucked underneath her on the sofa, her exhausted body propped up against Patch.

 

"Hey...maybe you could add that melody somewhere else, y'know? I like the way that sounds." Murmured Eve - the first words spoken in over a minute.  

Patch's response was less a word, and more an intonation, as she paused the music and set the track back 30 seconds; the 30 seconds Eve liked so much.

 

The moment repeated; Patch listening intently to both Eve and the music, Eve listening intently to both Patch and the music, the cosmos and the sound engine's quiet low hum surrounding both of them.

Eve's focus drifted, towards the window facing them at an angle; it drifted past that window, to the expanse on the other side of the window.

The music coming from the earphones faded to nothing - though Eve didn't notice, transitioning instead into reverie. The next track came on, and still, Eve did not notice.

 

"Hey, Eve? You still there?"

"Oh, um...sorry, Patch! I guess I kinda got distracted, heh...this music's kinda fitting for this time of night. Well, I mean, it, it's not really night, since there's no night in space, but people need to sl- people get tired and...um, yeah."

Patch lifted her laptop off her knees and set it down beside her, careful not to disrupt Eve's resting against her shoulder. Patch's earphones, however, remained, and Patch herself silently prayed that the song she's dedicated to Eve came on soon, regardless of whether Eve paid attention or not.

She side-eyed Eve from behind her hair; Eve was looking past Patch, to...the window?

 

“Ah.” Patch thought to herself.

“Space.”

 

"Nah, it's fine, Eve, really! What are you lookin' at over there?"

Eve yawned. "Just...some constellations, I guess. It's crazy how many of them got named in the last 200 years. I can't even see half the ones Klein points out to me, but...I guess I just can't see as many stars she can."

 

"Uh-huh..." Patch uttered as she nodded slowly, "What about the one you're looking at, though? Truth be told, Otecho's got some pretty crazy light pollution and junk, and I can't see out my windows anyway so I can't see the night sky well, so it'd be cool if you could show me 'round the stars, y'know? It's always nice to have inspiration for my sound."

Eve's mind drew a blank suddenly, unable to pick out a single constellation from everything she saw, even from her own slight parallax angle; she saw the edge of something that seemed familiar, and shifted her head to reveal it, resting it gently on Patch's shoulder.

 

Sahuagin's Maw.

 

Eve heard a faint heartbeat. She wasn't sure if it was her own or Patch's, though her thoughts quickly drifted on. Her left pigtail tickled Patch slightly as she adjusted, though Patch persevered.

"U-uhm..."

She restarted, focusing on the constellation at the edge of her vision. "You see the one on the far right, near the edge? The ones that look like they're in a zig-zag-y pattern?"

Patch didn't move her head, though Eve assumed she was looking. She had a faint smile on her face - a faint smile different from that of her cool, collected resting face. "Oh yeah, I see 'em!"

"That's...Sahuagin's Maw. I think that one's kinda obvious though, heh."

"That's the one next to The Dots, right?"

"Yeah!"

"Why do they call that one The Dots anyway? Like, why is that a constellation? Seems kinda weird to me."

"It was named by a Tiny Oni who wanted to be part of the scientific community, I think."

Patch giggled - a sound Eve hadn't heard before. It was barely audible, but Eve heard it over the faint hum of Patch's music in her left ear.

"What about that one in the middle, at the top of the window?" Patch said, a note of excitement in her tone now. She still sounded calm to Eve, but...like her giggle, it was there.

 

A set of stars that aligned at clean angles to each other; almost as if they were two nearly parallel lines.

Cornua Draconis.

Eve's voice didn't raise above her tired murmur, though she was close enough to Patch not to need to; "That's Cornua Draconis. Klein told me that Han named them after King Verrine, but didn't really tell me much else...sorry, Patch."

"Don't be, b-don't be sorry!" Patch laughed under her breath. "It's mad cool that you know about all this...Luca never told me much about all that Han stuff either, and I guess she doesn't know much about the stars, now that I'm thinkin' about it. Life in Sunwich must be pretty cool...I gotta visit you down in Sunwich someday."

"Yeah...we can go to the spot in the mountains where I stargazed as a kid. It's been such a long time, heh..." Eve yawned again. "Klein won't be with us, don't worry. It'll...only be the t..."

Eve yawned again, and did not finish her sentence. Patch hung on her last word for 10-15 seconds before glancing over; Eve was motionless, her eyes closed - asleep on Patch's shoulder midsentence.

Patch took her own earphone out, reached over carefully to her laptop, and lowered the volume as she placed the now free earphone on Eve's lap. In response, Eve unconsciously leaned into Patch a little further and placed her arm loosely over Patch's stomach. Patch loosened her muscles and relaxed back into the sofa and removed her own shoes subtly under the table with her own feet, resting her own head softly against Eve's -

Even if only for one night, for the first time in over a month, Eve Staccato had finally found rest - in Patch Godunov. Fellow Conjurer, confidant, and...


End file.
